The Harrods of Hairdressing and Beauty Salons to Enter UK and Irish Market Via Master Franchising

The premier French hairdressing and beauty group, Dessange International, is to expand its retail portfolio into the UK and Ireland via master franchising, as part of its international expansion programme.

In a market that is undergoing a phase of consolidation, Dessange International is aiming to grow its network by awarding master franchises and via the extension of its Camille Albane and Frédéric Moréno brands.

Founded in Paris in 1954 and described as ‘the Harrods of hairdressing and beauty salons’, Dessange International is a world leader with 1,000 salons in 45 countries. The company Founder and Chairman, Jacques Dessange, is a forward-thinking Frenchman whose passion, pioneering spirit and insistence on quality remain the cornerstones of the brand’s continued development.

The company has commissioned franchise consultancy and publishing group FDS to identify suitable partners to establish its main brand, Dessange, in the UK and Ireland. Successful candidates may be highly skilled beauty professionals or entrepreneurs, with impressive business portfolios, and able to establish a flagship salon and training facility before expanding the brand via company-owned and/or sub-franchised outlets.

Dessange International will work very closely with its UK and Ireland partners to set up the flagship salon, recruit a training director and set up the training centre. Master franchisees will gain access to over 50 years of experience and know-how, a substantial research and development and logistics division, and worldwide training facilities.

The Swiss Master Franchisee Franco Fontana previously managed a number of salons as a franchisee before investing in the Master Franchise in 2002. He currently operates 22 Dessange, 6 Camille Albane and 10 Frédéric Moréno sub-franchised and company-owned salons.

He says: “Dessange is both a prestigious and upmarket brand of hair salons. The advantages of this business reflect the qualities that distinguish the group from other brands: we are an international hair care and aesthetics group that boasts three complementary brands with a wide range of products and the training commitment to back that up.

“Dessange allows for professional development through its nine training centres around the world, where trained hairdressers can join the Dessange group and be trained in the techniques used by each of the brands, and over subsequent years, can perfect their artistic, technical and creative skills.”

Enrico Bregolin, the Italian Master Franchisee, previously worked for the Maletti Group. He has 120 franchises under Dessange and Camille Albane and is aiming to launch Frédéric Moréno into the market in the future.

“Each distinct brand can rely on the accumulative expertise of the Dessange group,” Enrico explains. “This knowledge base means that there is the technical support you need to get new staff trained and up to speed in a minimum of time but ensuring maximum quality. This is essential to the salon’s profitability. This means we’ve got rid of the traditional approach so typical of most Italian hair salons where the individual hair salon operator sets the terms and does not operate as part of a larger entity. In brief, the Dessange group offers its brands strong management support as well as know-how in marketing, brand and salon image.”


For further details contact Nick Williams, FDS consultant
Call: 01603 620 301 Email: nickw@fdsltd.com Web: www.fdsfranchise.com

High res image can be downloaded from: http://www.clickintopr.com/editors/articleDetail.asp?pjID=479

Additional images can be obtained by contacting Rachel Spaul
Call: 01603 620 301 Email: rachels@fdsltd.com


Notes to Editors

Jacques Dessange founded Dessange International in 1954. In 1975 he began development of the first network of franchised hairdressing salons in France. Driven by his pioneering spirit and supported by a team of loyal managers, Dessange International was the first to develop salons outside of France (1962), develop a skills development centre (1979), launch a range of care and make-up products (1990), and distribute a designer brand of hair care products in hypermarkets (1992).

Dessange is a luxury brand focused on quality and creativity and represents two per cent of the total styling market. Dessange salons are large centres of beauty located in town centres, sometimes associated with beauty institutes. They provide luxurious and customised services to discerning, sophisticated women, sell face and body care products and make-up under the brand name Dessange Beauté and the Phytodess and Natural Pigma hair care products.

Dessange has worked for many years in partnership with L’Oréal, which supplies its professional/technical products. Lascad, a L’Oréal subsidiary, exploits the licence for ‘Jacques Dessange Compétence Professionnelle’ hair care products sold in hypermarkets.

Camille Albane is a hairstyling, colouring and make-up brand in the mid to top end of the market and represents three per cent of the total market. The image, identity and price positioning are all designed to target “women of expression” who demand quality.

The Frédéric Moréno Coiffure Company was acquired in May 2002 and has allowed Dessange International to significantly increase its market share in a segment in which it was previously absent: the mid-range market. Frédéric Moréno salons represent three per cent of the market and are designed to build local customer loyalty through an attractive pricing policy and made-to-measure services provided in a comfortable atmosphere.

For the last 13 years, Dessange International has designed and distributed care products for the hair, face and body as well as make-up ranges. It also distributes collections of beauty accessories such as glasses, handbags, scarves and jewellery in its salons. In 1998 Jacques Dessange created an internal products division, Dessange Paris, and over the years has made considerable investment in its development. In 2003 Dba SA : Division Beauté Accessoires was created to design, manufacture and distribute the hair and care product ranges to the franchise network.

The brand has gained consistent exposure through its long association with show business as an Official partner of the Cannes Film Festival, the Official Hair Stylist of the Deauville Festival, the international tennis tournament at Roland Garros, and the Paris Masters Bercy.

Visit www.dessange-international.com